What is it about the ocean that draws people again and again? For centuries, people have brought the wonder of the sea to their homes to decorate with — and that's how coastal design style was born!
Over the years, the style has changed, but the core of it stays the same: bringing calm, breezy vibes into your home! But how can you achieve that? By checking out our style tips!
What is Coastal Design
As we said before, coastal design has been around for a very long time, but it didn't become as commonplace until luxury Hampton beach homes started showing off their stuff in the late 19th century. Since then, the area has become more popular with the focus on the beautiful beaches and the homes along the waterfront!
The hallmarks of coastal design are characterized by using watery colors (blues, greens, sea glass, etc.) and natural textures to recreate the feeling of relaxing seaside vibes. Of course, this doesn't mean filling up your home with a bunch of seashells and driftwood — there's an art to it!
Coastal Colors
The first step to bringing coastal design style to life in your home is selecting the right color palette. With coastal design, this means crisp, natural colors with hues of white and blue, but don't worry; this doesn't mean you have to be limited to only two colors. There is a lot you can do to play with it!
For instance, you can shade different shades of white, like a cream-colored sofa against a crisp white wall, and throw a sandy rug underneath. Doing this with other coastal colors like blues, beige, paste grass green, rocky grays, and brown will bring more vibrance to your style. And if you want to add pops of brightness, you can add coral, Robin's egg, or seashell pink to your color scheme.
Textures
When decorating your home, it's essential to layer in textures for a more live-in feel. Most coastal textures mimic surface characteristics of landscapes and waterfront areas, which means no more bold prints like leopard or ikat. But textures you should utilize include striped fabrics, woven shades, wicker, ropes, driftwood, sisal or jute rugs, reflective glass, wine, or bamboo.
You can also look for distressed finishes to bring more beach-inspired vibes throughout your home!
Using Natural Light
Another characteristic of coastal design is natural light — it's the best way to recreate that seaside feel! The natural light emphasizes the soothing colors in the home and makes the space seem more refreshing. So, if you have large windows, skylights, or glass doors, emphasize how much light they bring in.
But if you don't have that many windows, don't worry; you can use mirrors as a workaround! With mirrors, you can reflect and diffuse light throughout your home to recreate the same feeling of large windows.
Coastal Furniture
After picking the colors and textures, next comes the best part — the furniture! Coastal furnishings typically have classic lines, clean silhouettes, and coastal materials like wicker. But they're also supplemented with distinctive prints and patterns (usually stripes). The type of furniture to get will differ by the space, for instance:
- Coastal bedroom furniture features weathered wood, linen upholstery, and beadboard details.
- Coastal living room furniture means coffee tables with classic driftwood or all-wicker designs and sofas and chairs with wicker frames and linen upholstery.
- Outdoor coastal furniture also heavily features wicker, blue-and-white shades and outdoor rugs!
Decor
The last step to completing coastal design in your home is the décor! Usually, coastal design décor means horizontal stripes and nautical themes. So, you can add anchors, coral, seashells, ship wheels, and other sea-life-inspired decorations throughout. But you can also use larger items like a rope-wrapped chandelier, a beachy ceiling fan, or sea-inspired artwork.
The key is finding the balance, so it doesn't look like a nautical décor store instead of a home. To do that, you include warm accents like an accent wall, area rugs, throw blankets, and smaller furnishings like a bench at the foot of the bed.
Seaside Vibes All Day
Now that you know more about what coastal design is and its characteristics, it's time to recreate it in your home! And what better place to start than Stucky's Furniture and Appliance? We have plenty of in-stock options we can get to you quickly, so don't hesitate to check out our furniture selection and see what will inspire you!
And if you have any questions, give us a call or stop by! Our team is happy to answer your questions!